www.rockphiles.com

[mewsical]

This was a real shocker. I picked the news up around 3:15 when I was leaving work, and TMZ confirmed it when I got on the freeway. The Coroner has taken over, the body has been transferred. The doctors at UCLA would not sign the death certificate, and requested an investigation. Detectives came to the house within the last hour, and this is the result. Which is appropriate.

Whatever, it's a real tragedy. Michael was so talented, had gone through so much in his life, and was poised for his comeback in the UK, scheduled for July 8 through February 2010.

[Henley_Fan]

I was shocked when I found out. I'm glad they transferred his body to the coroner via helicopter instead of on the freeway. Less of a circus that way. What a horrible loss. While I didn't care for the way he ran his life, I always enjoyed his music. RIP, Michael.
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I tried being good, but I got bored.

I'll have a cafe, mocha, vodka, valium latte to go please.

I'm so busy, I don't know whether I found a rope, or lost my horse.

I have CDO. It's like OCD, but the letters are in order like they should be.

The voices in my head may be imaginary, but they've got some really great ideas.

[EaglesBabe18]

[winslowboy]

He was a great entertainer and performer and I enjoyed his music immensely although he appeared to act a trifle weird in later years. It is unfortunate that we will never know whether his comeback tour would have been successful or not. Ironically, I expect Thriller et al to head the music charts again very shortly.
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Taking one day at a time means not having to worry about all of next week!

[Henley_Fan]

[EaglesBabe18]

[mewsical]

Lisa Marie posted this today.

"When talking about musical royalty, two men stand heads and shoulders above the rest -- Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson. I mean, there is a reason why they shared a nickname. Being dually dubbed "The King" was just one example why Lisa Marie Presley's 1994 marriage to Michael was so shocking.

Another reason was because so many felt it was a sham. A sentiment their very public smooch at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards did little to erase. For a long time Lisa Marie remained mum on the subject of Michael, their relationship and the end of that coupling. But now that Michael Jackson appears to have joined the tragically long list of celebrities who died because of drug abuse (and enablers) -- Elvis, Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger, Marilyn Monroe -- she has decided to break her silence.

In a blog posting on her MySpace page titled, "He Knew," Lisa Marie not only talks about their love, but reveals that Michael truly believed he'd end up dying like Elvis. And she was helpless to change his mind.

"Years ago Michael and I were having a deep conversation about life in general. I can't recall the exact subject matter but he may have been questioning me about the circumstances of my Fathers Death," she writes.

"At some point he paused, he stared at me very intensely and he stated with an almost calm certainty, 'I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did.' I promptly tried to deter him from the idea, at which point he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded almost matter of fact as if to let me know, he knew what he knew and that was kind of that."

"14 years later, I am sitting here watching on the news an ambulance leaves the driveway of his home, the big gates, the crowds outside the gates, the coverage, the crowds outside the hospital, the cause of death and what may have led up to it and the memory of this conversation hit me, as did the unstoppable tears."

"A predicted ending by him, by loved ones and by me, but what I didn't predict was how much it was going to hurt when it finally happened. The person I failed to help is being transferred right now to the LA County Coroners office for his autopsy.

All of my indifference and detachment that I worked so hard to achieve over the years has just gone into the bowels of hell and right now I am gutted. I am going to say now what I have never said before because I want the truth out there for once.

Our relationship was not 'a sham' as is being reported in the press. It was an unusual relationship yes, where two unusual people who did not live or know a 'normal life' found a connection, perhaps with some suspect timing on his part. Nonetheless, I do believe he loved me as much as he could love anyone and I loved him very much.

I wanted to 'save him' I wanted to save him from the inevitable which is what has just happened. His family and his loved ones also wanted to save him from this as well but didn't know how and this was 14 years ago. We all worried that this would be the outcome then. At that time, In trying to save him, I almost lost myself.

He was an incredibly dynamic force and power that was not to be underestimated.

When he used it for something good, It was the best and when he used it for something bad, It was really, REALLY bad. Mediocrity was not a concept that would even for a second enter Michael Jackson's being or actions.

I became very ill and emotionally/ spiritually exhausted in my quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him.

I was in over my head while trying. I had my children to care for, I had to make a decision.

The hardest decision I have ever had to make, which was to walk away and let his fate have him, even though I desperately loved him and tried to stop or reverse it somehow.

After the divorce, I spent a few years obsessing about him and what I could have done different, in regret. Then I spent some angry years at the whole situation.

At some point, I truly became Indifferent, until now.

As I sit here overwhelmed with sadness, reflection and confusion at what was my biggest failure to date, watching on the news almost play by play The exact Scenario I saw happen on August 16th, 1977 happening again right now with Michael (A sight I never wanted to see again) just as he predicted, I am truly, truly gutted.

Any ill experience or words I have felt towards him in the past has just died inside of me along with him. He was an amazing person and I am lucky to have gotten as close to him as I did and to have had the many experiences and years that we had together.

I desperately hope that he can be relieved from his pain, pressure and turmoil now.

He deserves to be free from all of that and I hope he is in a better place or will be.

I also hope that anyone else who feels they have failed to help him can be set free because he hopefully finally is. The World is in shock but somehow he knew exactly how his fate would be played out some day more than anyone else knew, and he was right.

I really needed to say this right now, thanks for listening."

~LMP


On a personal note, I knew people who worked with Elvis, and people who worked with and knew Michael. We had divisive views about Michael's lawsuits. I also knew Jim Morrison, Janis, Jimi, Cass, Brian Jones, in varying degrees. They had one common denominator from my perspective. Decent people at heart, great artists, otherwise they would not have reached the multitude they have. Rather than explore their personal lives, we owe these unique performers a salute to their music, which is what they cared about.

[eaglemom]

[Henley_Fan]

[winslowboy]

I suspect they will release a DVD of his planned O2 stage routine (allegedly they have over 100 hours of rough footage to choose from) and make a fortune in the process
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Taking one day at a time means not having to worry about all of next week!

[mewsical]

I'm sure they will, and it was good foresight that they did that. Have you guys in the UK seen the footage from Staples Center on June 23? There was nothing wrong with Michael as far as his ability to dance, and sing. He didn't look any different than he usually does - in fact, I liked the look he had at the time. Btw, the voice you hear at the end is Kenny Ortega.

Michael may have died happy to be poised on the edge of a hugely-successful tour, but he also is in fairly serious debt, and whatever money they make will help to offset some of that. Of course, the Sony catalog is worth millions.

It's truly amazing how many people are assembling here to bid him farewell.

It looks as if he will be buried at Forest Lawn, just down the street here. That should bring some tourist money into the area. We need it!

[winslowboy]

Yep, they have shown some of the rehearsal footage - it looks really good

MJ looks fit and well enough in the bits I've seen
_________________
Taking one day at a time means not having to worry about all of next week!

[EaglesBabe18]

[mewsical]

This video from Sky News is top quality, as opposed to the CNN blurriness on YouTube. I also liked the reporting style as well. Nobody here has so far acknowledged that Michael's grandmother is buried at Forest Lawn, or that a restraining order might be sought against Joe.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6626548.ece

[eaglemom]

http://www.paulmccartney.com/news.php#/1674/2009-07

Can someone explain this to me - in very simple terms (because I'm dense ) what exactly it means by 'owning' the Beatles songs. And why were they sold in the first place and by whom?